Thursday, September 17, 2009

Jennifer Lopez



















Background information
Birth name:
Jennifer Lynn Lopez
Also known as: J.Lo, Jenny
Born: July 24, 1969 (1969-07-24) (age 40)
Origin: The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Genre(s): Dance-pop, Latin pop, R&B, pop
Occupation(s): Actress, singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, fashion designer, television producer
Years active: 1987�present
Label(s): Epic, Work

Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), often nicknamed J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, fashion designer and television producer. She is the richest person of Latin American descent in Hollywood according to Forbes, and the most influential Hispanic entertainer in the U.S. according to People en Espa�ol's list of "100 Most Influential Hispanics".
Starting in 1999, Lopez released seven albums, including two number one albums on the Billboard 200 charts and four Billboard Hot 100 number one singles. She won the 2003 American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and the 2007 American Music Award for Favorite Latin Artist. She has sold over forty-eight million albums worldwide. Lopez has also appeared in numerous films, and has won ALMA Awards for outstanding actress for her work in Selena, Out of Sight, and Angel Eyes. She parlayed her media fame into a fashion line and various perfumes with her celebrity endorsement.

Media attention has also focused on her personal life. She has had high-profile relationships with Ojani Noa, Cris Judd, Sean Combs, Ben Affleck, and Marc Anthony. Her first children, fraternal twins named Max and Emme, were born on February 22, 2008.

Jennifer Lopez was born and grew up in the South Bronx, New York to Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodr�guez, a kindergarten teacher, and David Lopez, a computer specialist. She has two siblings, Lynda and Leslie. Lopez spent her entire academic career in Catholic schools, finishing at the all-girls Preston High School, in the Bronx. She financed singing and dancing lessons for herself from the age of 19. After attending Baruch College for one semester, Lopez divided her time between working in a legal office, dance classes, and dance performances in Manhattan night clubs. She had a bit part in the 1987 film My Little Girl. After months of auditioning for dance roles, Lopez was selected as a dancer for various rap music videos, a 1990 episode of Yo! MTV Raps, and as a backup dancer for the New Kids on the Block and their performance of their song "Games" for the American Music Awards in 1991. After being rejected twice, she gained her first regular high-profile job as a "Fly Girl" dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color in 1990. Soon after, Lopez became a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and made an appearance in her 1993 video "That's the Way Love Goes".

Lopez's first television job as an actress, on the Fox series South Central came her way because the producer of the television series was married to one of the other "Fly Girls," and he took notice of Lopez during a special Fox aired about them.[citation needed] Lopez also made a guest appearance Second Chances and Hotel Malibu. She then appeared in the made-for-television film Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7. Lopez's first serious screen role was in Gregory Nava's 1995 drama My Family, playing the character of Young Maria in the 1920s. After starring alongside Jimmy Smits and Edward James Olmos in My Family, Lopez starred in the action film Money Train opposite Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. In 1996, she beat out Ashley Judd and Lauren Holly for the supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola's 1996 comedy Jack starring Robin Williams. She then starred opposite Jack Nicholson in Bob Rafelson's well-received noir thriller Blood and Wine.

Lopez's first big break came in 1997, when she was chosen to play the title role in Selena, a biopic of the Tejano pop singer Selena. Despite having previously worked with Nava on Mi Familia, Lopez was subjected to an intense auditioning process before landing the lead role of Selena. She earned widespread praise for her performance, including a Golden Globe Award for "Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy". Later that year Lopez appeared in two major films. She starred in the horror film Anaconda alongside Ice Cube and Jon Voight, playing the role of Terri Flores, a director who is shooting a documentary while traveling through the Amazon River. Though, despite being a modest box office hit, the film was critically panned. Lopez then starred as the leading actress in the neo-noir film U Turn, which is based on the book Stray Dogs, starring alongside Sean Penn and Billy Bob Thornton.

In 1998, she had one of her most acclaimed roles, starring opposite George Clooney in Out of Sight, Steven Soderbergh's adaptation the Elmore Leonard novel. Cast as a deputy federal marshal who falls for a charming criminal, Lopez won raves for her tough performance and in the process she became the highest paid Latina actress in Hollywood history. That same year, she provided the voice for Azteca on the computer-animated film Antz. Lopez then starred opposite Vince Vaughn, in the psychological thriller film The Cell. She portrayed Catherine Deane, a child psychologist who uses a virtual reality to enter into the minds of her patients to coax them from their comas. The film was released on August 18, 2000 and became a box office success opening at number one.The following year, Lopez took a hiatus from acting in films to work on her music career.

In 2001, Lopez starred alongside Matthew McConaughey in the romantic comedy The Wedding Planner. The film debuted at number one, making her the first actress and singer in history to have a film and an album, J.Lo, at number one in the same week.Her next role in the supernatural romance Angel Eyes (2001), and in the psychological revenge thriller Enough (2002), both failed to click with audiences and critics alike.She appeared alongside Ralph Fiennes in the romantic comedy film Maid in Manhattan (2002). Her character, Marisa Ventura, is a struggling single mother who lives in the Bronx and makes her living cleaning rooms in a super-luxurious Manhattan hotel, who gets mistaken for a socialite by a princely politician. Maid in Manhattan was a box office hit opening at number one. The New York Times compared the films storyline to her 2002 song, "Jenny from the Block", commenting, "In her new single, Jenny From the Block, Jennifer Lopez declares that despite her enormous wealth and global fame, she has not lost touch with her roots."

Some of her other critically-acclaimed films include An Unfinished Life and Shall We Dance?. Two independent films produced by Lopez were well-received at film festivals: El Cantante at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Bordertown at the Brussels film festival. Her modestly successful film includes Monster-in-Law (2005). Gigli, however, would be a critical and commercial disappointment. In August 2007, Lopez collaborated on the feature film, El Cantante, with her husband singer-actor Marc Anthony. The film is in English, with a creative use of subtitles for songs with Spanish lyrics. In addition, she will appear in the romantic comedy The Back-Up Plan.

Lopez is one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood and the highest-paid Latin actress in Hollywood history, though she's never had a film grossing over $100 million in the U.S. She was on the The Hollywood Reporter's list of the top ten actress salaries in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Lopez received $15 million for her role in Monster-in-Law.Her top-grossing film domestically is Maid in Manhattan which grossed $94,011,225, and her most successful international film, Shall We Dance?, grossed $112,238,000, at the international box office. Domestically, Shall We Dance? grossed $57,890,460 and a total of $170,128,460 worldwide. In 2007, Lopez made the Forbes magazine's list of "The 20 Richest Women In Entertainment," ranking ninth. Her wealth is estimated to be $110 million.

Lopez's debut album On the 6, a reference to the 6 subway line she used to take growing up in Castle Hill was released on June 1, 1999, and reached the top ten of the Billboard 200. The album featured the Billboard Hot 100 number-one lead single, "If You Had My Love", as well as the top ten hit "Waiting for Tonight". The album also featured a Spanish language, Latin-flavored duet "No Me Ames" with Marc Anthony (who later would become her husband.) Though "No Me Ames" never had a commercial release, it reached number one on the U.S. Hot Latin Tracks. On the 6 featured guest artists such as Big Pun and Fat Joe on the track "Feelin' So Good", which had moderate success on the Billboard Hot 100. "Let's Get Loud", the final single, earned Lopez a Grammy Award nomination in the "Best Dance Recording" category in 2001 Grammy Awards."Waiting for Tonight" was nominated for the same category the previous year. "No Me Ames" received two nominations at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards � "Best Pop Duo/Group with Vocal Performance" and "Best Music Video".

Lopez's second album, J.Lo, was released on January 23, 2001 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. When her film The Wedding Planner achieved number one shortly after, Lopez become the first actress-singer to have a film and an album at number one in the same week. The lead single, "Love Don't Cost a Thing", was her first number-one single in the United Kingdom and took her into the top five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. She followed it up with "Play" which gave her another top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number three in the UK. Her next two singles were "I'm Real" and "Ain't It Funny" which were quickly rising up the charts. To capitalize on this, Lopez asked The Inc. Records (then known as Murder Inc.) to remix both songs, which featured rap artists Ja Rule (on both) and Caddillac Tah (on the "Ain't It Funny" remix). Both remixes reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for several weeks. She re-released J. Lo on her thirty-second birthday with the remix of "I'm Real" as a bonus track. Also, "Si Ya Se Acab� was released in Spain, due to the success "Que Ironia." In 2001, Lopez performed on tour on the Let's Get Loud "Live in Puerto Rico" Concert.

Following the success of the re-release of J. Lo, Lopez decided to devote an entire album to the remixing effort, releasing J to tha L-O!: The Remixes, on February 5, 2002. This album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first remix album in history to debut at the top on the chart. Featured artists on J to tha L-O!: The Remixes included P. Diddy, Fat Joe, and Nas, and the album included rare dance and hip hop remixes of past singles. It is the fourth all-time biggest-selling remix album in history, after Michael Jackson's Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, The Beatles' Love and Madonna's You Can Dance.
Lopez released her third studio album, This Is Me... Then, on November 26, 2002 which reached number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned four singles: "Jenny from the Block" (featuring Jadakiss and Styles P), which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100; "All I Have" (featuring LL Cool J), which spent multiple weeks at number one; "I'm Glad"; and "Baby I Love U!". The album included a cover of Carly Simon's 1978 "You Belong to Me". The video for "I'm Glad" recreated scenes from the 1983 film Flashdance, leading to a lawsuit over copyright infringement, which was later dismissed.

After a year away from the music scene, Lopez released her fourth studio album, Rebirth, on March 1, 2005. Although debuting and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200, the album quickly fell off the charts. It spawned the hit "Get Right", which reached the top fifteen in the U.S. and became her second Platinum hit (after "If You Had My Love"). "Get Right" was also successful in the UK, becoming her second number-one single there. The second single, "Hold You Down", which featured Fat Joe, reached number sixty-four on the U.S. Hot 100; it peaked at number six in the UK and ascended to the top twenty in Australia. Another song, "Cherry Pie", was slated for a release in late 2005, but the plans to make a video were canceled as the album sales were definitely too weak and the promotion budget exceeded. It was released to radio stations in Spain. Rebirth was certified Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA. Lopez was then featured on LL Cool J's single "Control Myself", which was released on February 1, 2006. It reached number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. It was Lopez's first U.S. top ten hit in three years.

Lopez officially released her first full Spanish-language album, Como Ama una Mujer, in March 2007. Her husband, singer Marc Anthony, produced the album with Estefano, except for "Qu� Hiciste", which Anthony co-produced with Julio Reyes. The album peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200, number one on the U.S. Top Latin Albums for four straight weeks and on the U.S. Latin Pop Albums for seven straight weeks. The album did well in Europe peaking at number three on the albums chart, mainly due to the big success in countries like Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Greece, Germany, Austria, and Portugal. On July 24, 2007 Billboard magazine reported that Lopez and husband Marc Anthony would "co-headline" a worldwide tour called "Juntos en Concierto" starting in New Jersey on September 29. Tickets went on sale August 10. The tour was a mix of her current music, older tunes and Spanish music. In a later press release, Lopez announced a detailed itinerary. The tour launched September 28, 2007 at the Mark G. Etess Arena and ended on November 7, 2007 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The lead single, "Qu� Hiciste" (Spanish for "What Did You Do"), was officially released to radio stations in January 2007. Since then, it has peaked at eighty-six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Latin Songs and the Hot Dance Club Play. It also went top ten on the European chart. The video for the song was the first Spanish-language video to peak at number one on MTV's Total Request Live daily countdown. The second single released is called "Me Haces Falta" and the third is "Por Arriesgarnos". Lopez won an American Music Award as the Favorite Latin Artist in 2007. Como Ama una Mujer holds the record for the best opening week internet sales for a Spanish album. With Como Ama Una Mujer, Jennifer Lopez is one of the few performers to debut in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 with a Spanish album.

Lopez released her fifth english studio album (sixth studio album overall) Brave on October 9, 2007, six months after Como Ama una Mujer was released. She collaborated with producers Midi Mafia, J. R. Rotem, Lynn and Wade and Ryan Tedder, with Rotem working on some tracks with writing partner Evan "Kidd" Bogart. Earlier, on August 26, 2007, ABC premiered a promo for the fourth season of Desperate Housewives, featuring a snippet of the song "Mile In These Shoes". "Do It Well" was released as the lead single and reached the top 20 in many countries. "Hold It, Don't Drop It" was released as the second single in certain European territories only. The third single was set to be the title track "Brave", and it was even posted on Michael Haussman's official website that filming of the music video for the single had completed. However, neither the single nor the video ever surfaced most likely due to low album sales.
In February 2009, the first of several new recordings, "Hooked On You" was circulated on the internet which confirmed rumours that Lopez was back in the studio recording a brand new album. Later in March 2009 Lopez went on record to speak about the track in March via her official website confirming that she was indeed working on new songs.

In May 2009, another new recording titled "What is Love" surfaced. The song was written by Wynter Gordon. That day, Gordon mentioned the song on her official MySpace and later clarified what she wrote: "apparently a blogger took this as a dis towards J-Lo. It's not. I respect and admire J-Lo and I was honored for her to cut my song. The "lifetime TV special" comment was directed at the leak. The song was not properly serviced. It's not mixed, mastered, or finished but it's out for public consumption and opinion. That's why I'm angry".

In June 2009, Lopez confirmed that she was working on a full length studio album and not a greatest hits collection as previously thought. "I worked on music while I was pregnant and while I was at home, but now to really get into it and focus on it and to finish the project is exciting," she said in an MTV interview. Lopez said she was working on a few singles and trying to finish the album, so it could be out later this year and that it would feature a very "focused concept", but she wasn't willing to reveal exactly what that concept is just yet. Lopez also said that she chose a title for the album, however, she didn't reveal what that title was. She also confirmed that "One Love" and "What Is Love" are indeed new songs which will appear on the album but she doesn't know if they will be the first singles. She ended the interview by saying that she "loves making great pop/dance music with beautiful lyrics" which again is what can be seen on the new album. Digitalspy reported that Lopez's representatives has issued a statement denying that Lopez was in running to become the new judge on American Idol after Paula Abdul departed following contract/pay disputes. However the site did confirm that her new studio album is scheduled for release in January 2010 along with her new film "The Back-up Plan".

On September 14, 2009 when on the red carpet awaiting entry to the MTV VMAs Lopez confirmed she had completed her new single which is title "Lola". The comeback single was produced by Pharell Williams and features Miami rapper Pitbull. The video was completed in the second week of September and has a Latin-pop influence. It is expected to premier at the end of September with a November release date.
On April 10, 2007 Lopez made an appearance as a mentor on American Idol. Lopez also became the executive producer of the eight-episode reality show, DanceLife, which ran on MTV and began on January 15, 2007. Lopez helped select the show's participants and made cameo appearances. She then served as executive producer of a miniseries broadcast on Univisi�n. Titled after her CD Como Ama Una Mujer, it ran in five episodes from October 30 to November 27, 2007, and starred Christian Borrero and Adriana Cruz.

Lopez signed a contract as star and executive producer of an unscripted reality series for TLC, a division of Discovery Communications Inc. The series will show the launching of her new fragrance, and will not focus on her family.

Lopez launched a clothing line in 2003. Named JLO by Jennifer Lopez, the line included different types of clothing for young women, including jeans, T-shirts, coats, belts, purses, and lingerie, a jewelry line, and an accessory line that includes hats, gloves, and scarves. Lopez participated in the Louis Vuitton Winter 2003 campaign. In 2005, she launched a new clothing line called Sweetface. In late 2007, Lopez retired JLO by Jennifer Lopez and launched a new juniors' line called JustSweet. Her fashion lines have featured at many New York Fashion Week events.
Lopez's frequent use of animal fur in her clothing lines and personal wardrobe has brought the scorn of people concerned with animal rights. At the Los Angeles premiere of Monster-in-Law, more than one hundred protesters from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) held a demonstration to highlight their concerns.

On April 12, 2002, Lopez opened a Cuban restaurant in the South Lake district of Pasadena, California named Madre's. A media sensation was creating when during a press shoot for the fancy restaurant, a mysterious man appeared out of the sidelines and gave Lopez a floral arrangement from Ben Affleck, even as then-husband Cris Judd stood next to her. Lopez was widely criticized for what appeared to be infidelity on her part.

Lopez has ventured in the perfume industry, with her debut "Glow by J.Lo". In October 2003, Lopez introduced a perfume called "Still", having revisit "Glow" the previous year by creating a limited edition spin-off, "Miami Glow by J.Lo", in homage to her adopted hometown of Miami. Lopez also marketed a "Glow" line of body lotions and bronzing products. For the Christmas season of 2005, she launched another fragrance, "Live by Jennifer Lopez". For 2006 Valentine's Day, "Miami Glow" was replaced by yet another "Glow" spin-off, "Love at First Glow by J.Lo". Her following fragrance, "Live Luxe", was released in August 2006, with "Glow After Dark" following in January 2007. Lopez is a spokesperson for Lux shampoo in Japan, appearing in the product's television commercials.

Lopez owns the film and television production company Nuyorican Productions. It was cofounded with her manager Benny Medina, who was supposed to receive half the producing revenue from the company. Lopez split with Medina shortly after the company was founded, but they later restored their business relationship.
Lopez has been recognized by People en Espa�ol magazine as both the cover subject for the "50 Most Beautiful" issue in 2006 and the "100 Most Influential Hispanics" issue in February 2007.

On February 14, 2007, Lopez received the Artists for Amnesty International award "in recognition of her work as producer and star of Bordertown, a film exposing the ongoing murders of hundreds of women in the border city of Ju�rez, Mexico". Nobel Peace Prize winner Jos� Ramos-Horta presented the award to Lopez at the Berlin International Film Festival. She also received special recognition and thanks from Norma Andrade, co-founder of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa A.C. ("May Our Daughters Return Home, Civil Association"), an organization consisting of mothers and families of the murdered women of Juarez.